L.A. Times article on S.F. restaurant closings

[bvus]

Article in today's (August 19, 2003) Los Angeles Times on recent number of San Francisco area restaurant closings.

Article

Edited August 19, 2003 by bvus (log)

[Hest88]

Sad, but this infuriated me.

But Karlinsky can't shake the feeling that San Francisco let her down, that, unlike New Yorkers after 9/11, her customers didn't try hard enough to see their favorite restaurant through the hard times.

Uh, gee thanks. For one the tragedy that was 9/11 was not about an entire economy tanking. I know so many unemployed tech workers right now who think of a burrito as opposed to ramen as an extravagence. How dare she blame her customers for not being able to afford to eat out.

[marie-louise]

How dare she blame her customers for not being able to afford to eat out.

She certainly could have said it a little better (the last line of the story pissed me off), but I do understand her point. While many folks in the Bay Area are unemployed, others of us are blessed to have stable jobs. I think those of us who are still well-employed should think about our responsibility for doing what we can to keep our favorite stores and restaurants afloat during leaner times. With one caveat: now more than ever, they need to earn my repeat business. It's a buyer's market. While I never had much of a tolerance for snooty hostesses, indifferent waiters, and bad meals, I simply won't tolerate them anymore. I'd rather give my money to the places I want to see around once the economy picks up. And it's funny, my two favorite neighborhood spots-Jojo and Bay Wolf for two-are still packed. Why? Well, the food is great and the host and waitstaff go out of their way to be friendly and provide terrific service. They have always greeted us and made us feel like valued customers during the dot-com boom, and they still do now. I, in turn, continue to be a loyal customer.

[Hest88]

While many folks in the Bay Area are unemployed, others of us are blessed to have stable jobs. I think those of us who are still well-employed should think about our responsibility for doing what we can to keep our favorite stores and restaurants afloat during leaner times.

True. I agree that those of us who are working should try to support our favorite restaurants as best we can. There have been many restaurant closings but, like you, I've noticed that my favorites are still bustling. Good food, good service, and good value for the dollar prevails.

I also, though, think she's missing another point. Those of us with jobs are still gun-shy. The economy hasn't picked up and most people realize that there is no such thing as job security. We look around us and are really conscious that even though we are working today, we might not be working tomorrow. There is a greater imperative to save as much money as we can.

[bvus]

Better news today:

August 20 article

[herbacidal]

does anyone know what they're going to do with the space slanted door is in now when after they move back in january?

i've heard the slanted door owners want to do something else at that temporary space. is that true?

[Malik]

According to the latest Zagat newsletter:

Slanted Door: Charles Phan is moving his restaurant again, this time from the Brannan St. location to the Ferry Plaza Building in early 2004. Missionites will have to wait until the fall of 2004 before he reopens a more casual street food-inspired eatery at the original 584 Valencia St. digs.

[herbacidal]

According to the latest Zagat newsletter:

Slanted Door: Charles Phan is moving his restaurant again, this time from the Brannan St. location to the Ferry Plaza Building in early 2004. Missionites will have to wait until the fall of 2004 before he reopens a more casual street food-inspired eatery at the original 584 Valencia St. digs.

okay,

so the Ferry Plaza Building is a third location?

i recall walking by the original Valencia location in February.

also, in the fall of 2004, is the original Valencia location going to be Slanted Door, or another venture?

this muddies the issue for me.

BTW, I'm an out of towner, have only been to SF in February for a few days.

[herbacidal]

nice to see you malik!

haven't seen you since helmand's.

you should post more!

[Stone]

Kind of odd that the paper ran the story using Karlinsky as their interview. Although maybe an LA paper was trying to discreetly thumb it's nose at SF. I can understand why Karlinsky, after losing her restaurant, was a little bitter, and I think the paper should have had the decency not to use those quotes.

[Malik]

so the Ferry Plaza Building is a third location?

i recall walking by the original Valencia location in February.

also, in the fall of 2004, is the original Valencia location going to be Slanted Door, or another venture?

this muddies the issue for me.

I think that the Slanted Door website explains it better than I do:

We opened our doors in November 1995 at 584 Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District. The restaurant moved temporarily to 100 Brannan Street @ The Embarcadero in May 2002. Slanted Door will be moving from Brannan St. to the newly renovated Ferry Building (the ferry building web site has more information) in January 2004. In addition, the Valencia St location will reopen in the fall of 2004; the menu there will feature the street foods of Vietnam.

So it looks like the Embarcadero venue will be just abandoned altogether. I've seen the new location in the Ferry Building, right by the Ferry Plaza farmer's market, and it's quite nice, right on the water with a good view of the East Bay.

As for popular restaurants that start out in the Mission and then move while converting their old location to a cheaper menu, that seems to be a trend right now. In addition to Slanted Door (which unfortunately is taking two years to reopen their original Mission location), Butterfly did this recently by moving their restaurant to the Embarcadero (in the spot previously occupied by Lapis), yet keeping the old location open with a cheaper Vietnamese street food menu. I had dinner at "Butterfly Mission" on Friday and it was quite good and much less expensive than the old menu. Watergate in the Mission is also moving, this time to Nob Hill, and they're planning to keep the old location open as a cheaper restaurant that they'll call Watercress.

[vintner]

Chef Karlinsky is not telling the full story about the troubles that led to the closing of her Meetinghouse restaurant in San Francisco.

I personally ate there three times at dinner. The first time was fine, although the room was crowded with excess staff and Karlinsky herself among all the tables. On the second visit, the kitchen delivered the wrong dishes--not what we'd ordered. Rather than another long wait, we ate them and Karlinsky took one entree off the check. On the third visit, a steak was delivered vastly overcooked and the server was unhelpful. Karlinsky took both entrees off our check, we paid for wine and appetizers and left--and never went back. And we were not the only people in the dining room with problems.

The bulk of her satisfied business seemed to be retirees who strolled over for brunch. At night she had lots of customers, but a very confused operation with too many staff and lots of screw-ups. And frankly, there are too many other places in San Francisco with food equally good and with better management.

[herbacidal]

this muddies the issue for me.

I think that the Slanted Door website explains it better than I do:

We opened our doors in November 1995 at 584 Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District. The restaurant moved temporarily to 100 Brannan Street @ The Embarcadero in May 2002. Slanted Door will be moving from Brannan St. to the newly renovated Ferry Building (the ferry building web site has more information) in January 2004. In addition, the Valencia St location will reopen in the fall of 2004; the menu there will feature the street foods of Vietnam.

So it looks like the Embarcadero venue will be just abandoned altogether. I've seen the new location in the Ferry Building, right by the Ferry Plaza farmer's market, and it's quite nice, right on the water with a good view of the East Bay.

As for popular restaurants that start out in the Mission and then move while converting their old location to a cheaper menu, that seems to be a trend right now.